Ureki — a Living Ecosystem by the Black Sea

Ureki is the natural foundation of our project

Ureki is a unique environment where people can return to something essential in themselves — through sunlight, unconditional human contact and the living energy of community. That is why we are building our ecosystem here: a place where empathy is not a concept, but the foundation of everyday life.

The natural magnetism of the coastline, the restorative air of the pine forests and the authentic warmth of Georgian culture make Ureki an exceptional setting for supporting mental wellbeing and for exploring the deeper patterns of human development.

The Inclusive Practices Research Campus

Since 2018, the international non-profit organization ‘Inclusive Practices’ has launched its activities on the northern coast of the Black Sea.

Surrounded by century-old eucalyptus and pine trees, the Inclusive Practices team is creating a modern inclusive hub: a place of attraction, mutual support and international collaboration, dedicated to unlocking human potential.

At the heart of our work is a neurophysiological understanding of empathy — not as an abstract ideal, but as a real human mechanism of connection, regulation and development. This foundation allows us to integrate technologies at the intersection of physics, neurophysiology and human-centered practice into advanced tools for supporting mental wellbeing, communication and human development.

Inclusive Village

A Space Designed for Life Without Boundaries

In 2019, the Inclusive Village was built by the Inclusive Practices team together with families raising children with developmental differences, who moved to Ureki from different countries. It was never just about building houses. This was a conscious step toward creating a living environment where the child, the family, and the community are in a constant, supportive connection.

This place was designed to help overcome the boundaries of autism, social withdrawal and the everyday loneliness that has become familiar to so many people in the modern world.

Every detail here matters: the layout of the homes, spaces filled with natural light, a large shared courtyard for games, morning exercises and community gatherings. Everything is created to make empathic contact possible. It is a living environment where inclusion becomes part of everyday life.

Experience Ureki

Ureki’s Magnetic Sands: A Natural Phenomenon of the Black Sea Coast

Ureki has long attracted people with its rare black magnetic sands — a natural phenomenon that continues to inspire scientific interest and human curiosity.

Unlike most beaches in the world, where the sand is largely made of neutral quartz, the coastline of Ureki is truly distinctive. Over centuries, mountain rivers carried titanomagnetite-rich minerals down from the Caucasus, while the sea gradually concentrated them along the shore, forming the legendary black beach of Ureki.

What makes this place so remarkable is not only the dark color of the sand, but the unique natural environment it creates. Here, the sea, sunlight, magnetic minerals, pine and eucalyptus air come together in a rare coastal ecosystem — one that many families experience as deeply restorative, calming and supportive.

On hot summer days, the healing tradition of Ureki is most closely associated with psammotherapy — the use of naturally heated sand. Because of its deep black color, the magnetite-rich sand absorbs sunlight intensely and can warm up to 45–50°C. When the body rests in this sand, it receives a soft, deep and even warmth, helping muscles relax and creating a sense of grounded physical ease.

For generations, people have come to Ureki seeking balance for the body and nervous system. The climate, the warmth of the sand, the sea air and the slow rhythm of the place all contribute to an environment that supports rest, recovery and sensory regulation.

This is especially important for our campus. For many children with developmental differences, sensory and motor integration challenges, the environment itself matters. Ureki offers a rare combination of natural softness, open space, warmth, movement, sound, texture and human support — the very conditions in which a child can feel safer, calmer and more connected.

That is why, every season, Ureki becomes a place of attraction for hundreds of families raising children with developmental differences.

It is not simply a resort.

It is a place of warmth, mutual support and a deeply sensitive culture of care for children and families.

Learn More About Ureki’s Magnetic Sand

The Relict Pine Forest — Ureki’s Green Shield

For Inclusive Practices, the pine forest is not simply a beautiful view from the window. It is the living wall of our laboratory — a place that holds the earliest memories of our work.

It was here, under the shade of ancient relict trees, that some of our first key sessions took place with children overcoming the challenges of autism. In the quiet alleys of this forest, their mothers began to rediscover pure natural light. Step by step, they moved through deep emotional exhaustion and learned the most delicate tools of empathy.

In this rare acoustic stillness, our participants found the courage to sound for the first time — and to truly hear their own voice in space.

It is no coincidence that this forest became the living backdrop for a scientific film documenting our unique inclusion practices, which was successfully presented at the World Community Development Conference in Dundee, Scotland, in 2019.

A Botanical Wonder: Pitsunda Pine on Magnetic Sands

Ureki is surrounded by a rare forest of relict Pitsunda pine — a living remnant of Earth’s ancient tertiary flora and a species listed in the Red Book. But what makes this place truly extraordinary for our work is the environment in which these trees grow.

Ureki is one of the very few places in the world where century-old pines rise directly from mineral-rich magnetic sands. This creates a rare meeting point of forest, sea air, sunlight and the natural mineral field of the coast.

Over generations, these relict pines have developed long, resin-rich needles with a distinctive mineral composition. Under the warm subtropical sun, the needles release phytoncides — natural aromatic compounds known for their role in the cleansing and refreshing quality of forest air.

When this pine air meets the sea breeze, the coastline becomes a powerful natural atmosphere: clean, fragrant, mineral, saline and deeply restorative. For the human body, this environment is felt almost immediately — through easier breathing, softer attention, a calmer nervous system and a renewed sense of contact with the living world.

The Story of Ureki: The Legacy of the “City of Hope”

In the late 1990s, the untouched northern coastline of Ureki — one of the cleanest and most naturally preserved parts of the Black Sea coast — drew the attention of the renowned visionary and philanthropist Badri Patarkatsishvili.

It was here, in this protected landscape of magnetic sands, pine forests and eucalyptus groves, that he envisioned an ambitious project: a world-class futuristic resort known as Imedis Kalaki — “The City of Hope.”

The idea was bold for its time. This area was intended to become an innovative wellness and research destination, bringing together nature, science and advanced human development practices in one extraordinary coastal environment.

The project received significant attention and support, but the political turbulence of the mid-2000s and Patarkatsishvili’s sudden death left the vision unfinished.

Yet history took an unexpected turn. The protected status of the land — and the monumental fencing built around it — became a powerful ecological shield. For years, this northern part of Ureki remained untouched by chaotic construction and uncontrolled development.

As a result, the landscape preserved what is now almost impossible to recreate: century-old pine trees, eucalyptus groves, clean magnetic sands and a rare sense of natural silence.

Today, this place carries more than the memory of an unrealized project. It carries the potential of a vision that was waiting for its time.